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In the Sengoku period (1467 – 1603), Toyotomi Hideyoshi caused a transformation of the han system. The feudal system based on land became an abstraction based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[2]

In the Edo period, the domains of daimyōs were defined in terms of kokudaka, not land area.[5] Imperial provincial subdivisions and shogunal domain subdivisions were complementary systems. For example, when the shogun ordered daimyōs to make a census of its people or to make maps, the work was organized along the borders of the provincial kuni.[6]

In the Meiji period from 1869 to 1871, the title of daimyō in the han system was han-chiji (藩知事) or chihanji (知藩事).[7]

In 1871, almost all of the domains were disbanded; and the prefectures of Japan replaced the han system.[1] At the same time, the Meiji government created the Ryūkyū Domain which existed from 1872 through 1879.[8]